Anderson County sheriff's vehicle involved in fatal wreck

ANDERSON - An Anderson County sheriff's patrol car was involved in a wreck that injured four people and killed a Seneca woman.

The patrol car, a 2011 Ford, collided with a 2000 Dodge pickup late Friday night on Clemson Boulevard near the East-West Parkway, said Lt. Sheila Cole, Anderson County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. The collision happened at 11:58 p.m., she said.

Frances Elaine Smith, 45, was taken to AnMed Health Medical Center, where she later died, said Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore. Smith was riding in the truck's middle seat and was not wearing a seat belt, Shore added.

Smith's boyfriend, Leon Swaney, 45, of Pendleton, was driving the Dodge, Shore said. Her son, Anthony Ray Smith, 24, also was a passenger in the pickup, he said.

Lance Cpl. Tony Keller of the South Carolina Highway Patrol said James Richey, 26, of Honea Path, was driving the Ford, while Jason Allen, 40, of Pendleton was a passenger.

A sheriff's deputy was driving the car, Cole said, and the passenger was a reserve officer.

Both were wearing seat belts, Keller said.

All five people involved in the wreck were taken by ambulance to AnMed, Keller and Shore said.

The occupants of the Dodge were on their way to eat when the wreck occurred, Shore said.

The law enforcement officials were going to help an officer investigating a report of a suspicious person who ran into the Royal American Inn motel on Clemson Boulevard near Interstate 85, Cole said.

All three people in the Dodge were trapped in the truck after the wreck, and responders used special equipment to get them out of the vehicle, Keller said.

Anthony Smith and Richey were treated and released Saturday, said AnMed spokeswoman Kari Lutz. She did not have information available about Allen or Swaney, she said. The wreck is still under investigation, but Shore said the driver of the sheriff's patrol car might have lost control, causing and the vehicle to cross over the centerline and strike the pickup, which was traveling in the opposite direction.

Neither officer had been placed on administrative leave as of Saturday evening, Cole said.

The state patrol Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, which uses technology to reconstruct the scenes of wrecks, is investigating the collision, Keller said.